


The Water's Edge

by yamsfreckles



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Near Death Experiences, Near Drowning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-09
Updated: 2016-04-09
Packaged: 2018-06-01 04:18:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6500521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yamsfreckles/pseuds/yamsfreckles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Black waves crashed over his head and he was sinking slowly, no matter how much he tried to fight it. There was nothing but water. Water pressing around him, inside him, pushing the air out of his lungs to make way for the freezing volume. His throat burned and he screamed. No sound escaped, only bubbles, rising to the surface he couldn’t quite reach, taking the last of his oxygen and hope with them. His thrashing slowed then stopped altogether. It was pointless. He was going to die. He thought drowning would be more peaceful than this, like falling asleep, but oh did it hurt."</p><p>-Or-</p><p>Hinata and Kageyama go to the beach even though it looks like bad weather</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Water's Edge

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for the HQ Valentine Fic Exchange even though it is not valentine's related at all. Gotta love when you get angst prompts

Kageyama looked at the cloud-filled sky warily, wishing he had said no when Hinata had asked if they could go to the beach for the day. Of course it had looked like it was going to be a nice day at the time. 

“Are you sure about this, Hinata? The weather doesn’t look too great,” he said, hoping against hope that the overenthusiastic boy next to him would see reason and change his mind.

“Aw c’mon Kageyama!” Hinata groaned. “I haven’t been to the beach in over a year. It’ll be fine!” he said, literally bouncing in his seat, anxious to get there.

Kageyama sighed and accepted his fate, pulling into the nearly empty parking lot. 

Hinata was out of the car and running for the water before Kageyama could even put the car in park. The latter rolled his eyes and turned the car off, settling with unloading rather than chasing after his exuberant boyfriend. Normally he would have taken chase immediately, yelling at Hinata for taking a false start, but the sense of foreboding in his stomach sobered him a little. 

He gathered the towels and cooler in his hands before making his way down the sandy walkway. He grumbled as the sand slowly seeped into his shoes. He didn’t know why Hinata liked the beach so much. It was dirty and hot – usually anyway. Today it was quite chilly actually – and the ocean wasn’t much fun to swim in if you kept accidentally swallowing the gross salt water. Not to mention how dangerous it was… Kageyama shook his head as if that could get rid of the memory that had almost surfaced. Okay, so maybe he was a little biased against the beach.

He set up the towels and cooler a little ways up the beach from the water, taking his shoes off to avoid any more sand getting into them, before making his way down to the water’s edge.

He let the small waves wash over his toes and he cringed at how chilled the water felt. He looked out, seeing the telltale orange scruff that meant Hinata was a little ways out, swimming around as if it was second nature to him. He shook his head, amazed that his boyfriend could stand to be in such cold water for any length of time. He watched him for a few minutes before cupping his hands together. “Hinata, are you going to make me eat lunch by myself, you dumbass?!” he yelled, shivering slightly at the slight wind.

He made his way back up to the towels without waiting for an answer, knowing that the only things Hinata loved more than swimming were volleyball and food. Sure enough, not even five minutes later, the orange haired boy was standing next to him, shaking the water out of his hair like a dog and shivering. He looked adorable. Not that Kageyama would ever tell him that. 

Hinata sat down and draped a towel over his shoulders and leaned into Kageyama hoping to warm up. 

Kageyama flinched. “You’re freezing, dumbass, get away from me!” he yelped trying to shove Hinata away.

The shorter boy just laughed and scooted closer. “And you’re so warm, stupid Kageyama,” he said grinning. 

Kageyama grumbled half-heartedly and settled for pulling Hinata closer, rubbing the latter’s arms to try and warm him up faster. He really shouldn’t have been out swimming when it was this chilly out. He would probably catch a cold, the idiot. 

They dug into their lunch (cold cut sandwiches and juice pouches) with fervor, racing each other to see who could finish the fastest. It was a draw.

When they finished eating, Kageyama began gathering up the garbage while Hinata started for the water again.  
“Shouldn’t you wait 45 minutes before going back in the water?” Kageyama questioned teasingly.

Hinata waved him off. “I’m not gonna go very far out. It’ll be fine.” And with that he was splashing away, head bobbing above the waves.

Kageyama watched him for a while before pulling his jacket closer to his body and lying down on his towel. A couple minutes of shut eye wouldn’t hurt anybody. Hinata could wake him when he was ready to go. He closed his eyes, letting the sound of waves breaking on the sand lull him to sleep.

***** 

Black waves crashed over his head and he was sinking slowly, no matter how much he tried to fight it. There was nothing but water. Water pressing around him, inside him, pushing the air out of his lungs to make way for the freezing volume. His throat burned and he screamed. No sound escaped, only bubbles, rising to the surface he couldn’t quite reach, taking the last of his oxygen and hope with them. His thrashing slowed then stopped altogether. It was pointless. He was going to die. He thought drowning would be more peaceful than this, like falling asleep, but oh did it hurt. He might have cried if he weren’t underwater. He closed his eyes and sank even further.

***** 

Kageyama woke with a start, breathing heavily at the horrible dream – the horrible memory.

He shakily sat up and his eyes widened at the sight before him. The strong wind was making the waves go higher and higher, reaching for the sky like a swollen hand. The sky itself was nearly black with swirling clouds and thunder cracked, deafeningly loud. 

He looked frantically around, praying that Hinata was nearby and out of the water. There was no sign of him.

He stood up and looked out into the churning ocean, eyes sweeping back and forth. He had to find Hinata. He had to be okay. Tears started falling from his eyes. Hinata couldn’t be gone. He couldn’t be. Kageyama was supposed to look after him; protect him from harm. A strangled sob escaped his lips. He had failed.

Just then a small flash of orange caught his eye, a head breaking the surface of the water. Hinata! He was so far out that Kageyama could barely make him out but it was him. He was struggling against the waves, desperately trying to get to shore, but it seemed the more he struggled the farther out the water pulled him.

There was no time to think of a better plan. If Kageyama didn’t act soon Hinata would drown. There wasn’t even time for him to be scared. He dove straight into the water, gasping as the cold water sliced his skin.

Reaching Hinata was the only thing on his mind. He couldn’t pay attention to the way the waves pulled ferociously at him, threatening to pull him under at a moment’s notice. He couldn’t pay attention to the rain that had started to fall. He couldn’t pay attention to his fear. Because if he did he might hesitate; and a hesitation could mean Hinata’s death.

Kageyama wasn’t a good swimmer. Had never been. His legs kicked awkwardly and his arms barely broke the surface of the water. At best he was doing an advanced doggy paddle. The waves and the unrelenting current helped pull him out quicker though, and for that he was grateful. He had to reach Hinata.

The rain fell harder and the waves crashed over his head over and over, pulling him under, dragging him farther out, before releasing him to come to the surface again. It was painful. It was terrifying. It was working. 

He caught sight of Hinata not ten feet away from him and he furiously kicked toward him. Hinata must have seen him too because they met in the middle grabbing onto each other for dear life and Kageyama could have wept at how wonderful and warm and alive Hinata’s touch was. He had made it.

Hinata was coughing and wheezing, but he still managed to yell over the pounding rain. “How are we going to get back to shore?!”

Kageyama’s happiness shattered. How were they going to get back? He thought he remembered learning that swimming parallel to shore would get you there…or was it perpendicular? He looked around frantically, but the waves were so high he couldn’t even tell which direction the shore was.

Kageyama froze. They were going to die. He was sure of it. 

He clasped Hinata’s hands even tighter, pulling him closer. “I’m sorry, Hinata,” he whispered, tears falling down his face – or was that just rain? He didn’t even know anymore at this point. “I love you,” he breathed, the pounding rain and howling wind drowning out his words. Maybe that was best. What could be crueler than telling someone you love them for the first time mere moments before they died? 

Hinata gasped and pointed at something over Kageyama’s shoulder. Kageyama turned and what he saw rekindled hope in his chest. A boat. 

Hinata released Kageyama’s hand and started waving and yelling madly, trying to get the attention of whoever was on board. 

Kageyama followed suit, waving his arms about frantically. They might survive.

Just then a large wave crashed over their heads pulling them under and Kageyama was lost in the vast darkness of the swirling water.

He felt heavy and no matter how hard he kicked toward the surface – or what he thought was the surface anyway – he didn’t seem to be making any progress. His lungs were screaming at him and his head felt dizzy. Where was Hinata? Had he made it back to the surface? To the boat? Kageyama sure hoped so, even if it was looking more and more like he wouldn’t be joining him.

He gasped involuntarily and water started filling his lungs and he was suddenly 9 years old again, struggling futilely as water pressed all around and inside him, suffocating him.

He sank lower and lower, his limbs stilling as he accepted death fully. 

‘What is so great about the beach anyway?’ was his last coherent thought before he blacked out.

***** 

He felt pressure on his chest. A lot of pressure. It hurt. Wasn’t being dead supposed to be painless? Maybe he was in hell…

He coughed, but no air came out, only water. More water than he thought his body could hold. It burned his throat and nose as he expelled it and finally he was able to breathe, though the air burned on its way to his lungs.

He slowly opened his eyes. The clouds overhead swirled ominously, though the rain seemed to have calmed down slightly. He blinked quickly trying to keep the droplets from falling into his eyes and glanced slightly downward. 

An older man was looking down at him worriedly, his hands pressing against Kageyama’s chest. The latter glanced to the side and saw another man wrapping a blanket around…Hinata! He had made it to the boat! And so had Kageyama apparently, though he didn’t know how.

“Do you know your name?” the man above him asked.

“Kage…” his voice was a lot scratchier than he had expected it to be and speaking hurt. “Kageyama…Tobio,” he finally croaked out.

The man nodded. “We’re going to take you to the hospital, Kageyama,” he said slowly, as if afraid that Kageyama wouldn’t be able to understand. Kageyama suddenly noticed that the man was dripping wet. Had he saved him then? “You should be fine now, but you’ll want a doctor to look you over to make sure there aren’t any lasting effects.”

“O…kay,” Kageyama rasped out.

The man stood up and shook his head. “Don’t know what you kids were thinking swimming in a storm like this.”

“Damn fools,” the man next to Hinata muttered.

Kageyama slowly sat up and was barely able to open his arms in time for Hinata to throw himself into them, shaking with tears.

“I’m so sorry Kageyama!” he sobbed, voice breaking. “This was all my fault! I should have listened to you when you said today wasn’t a good day. God I’m so stupid!” he wept into Kageyama’s shoulder.

Kageyama held him close, tears pricking at his own eyes. He didn’t blame Hinata. Not in the slightest. But he knew Hinata would never believe him if he told him. “I’m sorry too, Hinata,” he croaked softly. “I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough to save you.”

They held onto each other tightly the whole ride back to shore, tighter even than they had when they were in the water.

The boat docked and the two men were ushering the teens to a vehicle, apparently to go to the hospital. Kageyama didn’t want to go to the hospital though. He just wanted to sleep. He fought to keep his eyes open as he and Hinata huddled in the back seat, sharing warmth. 

“You know,” Hinata whispered suddenly. “I love you too, stupid Kageyama.” 

Kageyama hummed, too tired to be embarrassed that Hinata had heard him. He grabbed both of Hinata’s hands in his, holding on to him tightly as they drew closer to their destination, afraid to let go.

**Author's Note:**

> Will I ever explore/explain Kageyama's near death experience when he was 9 years old? Your guess is as good as mine at this point.
> 
> hmu on tumblr if you have any drabble or one shot prompts!  
> yamsfreckles.tumblr.com


End file.
